1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus and, more particularly, to its operation.
2. Related Background Art
In a conventional electronic apparatus such as a personal computer, a pointing device such as a track ball is popularly used for performing operations for moving a cursor displayed on a monitor screen, selecting one of a plurality of items, and so on.
FIG. 1 shows an example in which a pointing device 3 is arranged on the main body of a video camera 100. Note that the video camera 100 comprises an EVF (electronic viewfinder) as a monitor 4.
With such a pointing device, since operations for a plurality of functions of the apparatus can be assigned to a single operation member, a simple operation unit can be realized, thus contributing to a size reduction of the apparatus. Since two or more switches can be assigned to a single operation member, an operator can perform two or more switch operations by selecting only the operation direction of the pointing device without releasing his or her hand from a key. For this reason, as compared to a case wherein one function is assigned to one key, the pointing device is easy to operate since a user need not fumble for or visually confirm an operation member.
However, the operation feeling of a conventional compact pointing device, which is operated by a finger tip and has a base portion fixed to the apparatus main body, varies depending on the size of the operator""s hand, the posture of the main body, and the like. For example, the position of the finger tip does not match the position of the pointing device due to personal differences of, e.g., the size of the hand, the length of the finger, and the like, resulting in a restrained operation and hence, poor operability.
For this reason, as shown in, e.g., FIGS. 2A and 2B, when the cursor displayed on the monitor 4 is moved by operating a pointing device with a finger tip, even though an operator wants to move the cursor in the right-hand direction, as shown in FIG. 2A, the operation direction deviates due to a delicate position deviation of the finger tip, and the cursor is undesirably moved in an obliquely upper or lower right-hand direction, as shown in FIG. 2B.
When movement of the cursor or selection of a menu item displayed on the EVF as the monitor 4 is performed using the pointing device 3 shown in FIG. 1, an operator looks into the EVF while bringing his or her face close to the main body of the video camera 100, and operates the pointing device 3 with his or her finger tip. Therefore, it is difficult for the operator to operate the pointing device 3 while visually confirming its position and operation direction, and the operator must operate the pointing device while fumbling for it. For this reason, the operability is often impaired depending on the size of the hand or the length of the finger of the operator, the holding position of the video camera 100, or the like. As a result, the operator cannot attain movement of the cursor or selection of a menu item, that he or she intended.
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, a method of displaying the operation contents using a liquid crystal display screen or the like is available. Referring to FIG. 3, operation contents 11 are displayed on the lower portion of the screen of an electronic viewfinder 4 comprising a liquid crystal display, and an operator depresses one of switches arranged below the operation contents 11 to attain the displayed operation. The displayed contents are switched in synchronism with a mode switch 5, and operation contents corresponding to a selected mode (camera and VTR) are displayed. In the case of FIG. 3, a VTR mode is selected, and a fast feed (FF) operation, a stop (STOP) operation, and the like are displayed. Trigger button 6 designates start and stop of reproduction.
However, in the prior art shown in FIG. 3, AE, AF, and the like cannot be set at an arbitrary position on the screen.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic apparatus which is easy to operate.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an operation device with good operability for an electronic apparatus.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an image pickup apparatus which is easy to operate, and has good operability.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, according to an embodiment of the present invention, an electronic apparatus which can be used in a hand-held state, comprises display means for displaying an index, operation means used for moving the index displayed by the display means, and adjustment means for adjusting an attachment state of the operation means to the electronic apparatus to at least a first attachment state and a second attachment state different from the first attachment state, and in the first and second attachment states, an operation for moving the index using the operation means can be performed.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, an electronic apparatus comprises display means for displaying an index, operation means used for moving the index displayed by the display means, and adjustment means for adjusting an attachment position of the operation means to the electronic apparatus by sliding the operation means at least from a first attachment position to a second attachment position different from the first attachment position, and at the first and second attachment positions, an operation for moving the index using the operation means can be performed.
With the above-mentioned arrangement, when the electronic apparatus is used in a hand-held state, the mounting state of the operation means to the apparatus main body can be adjusted in correspondence with personal differences of, e.g., the size of a hand and the length of a finger, a specific way of operation, or the like of an operator. For this reason, the electronic apparatus can be reliably operated.
Furthermore, according to still another embodiment of the present invention, an electronic apparatus comprises display means for displaying an index, operation means used for moving the index displayed by the display means, and adjustment means for adjusting the operation means so that a moving direction of the index displayed by the display means matches a moving direction that an operator intended.
With this arrangement, the moving direction that an operator intended matches the actual moving direction of the index.
According to still another embodiment of the present invention, an operation device for an electronic apparatus, comprises a plurality of switch means, operation means for turning on a predetermined one of the plurality of switch means in correspondence with an operation direction thereof, and changing means for changing a relative positional relationship between the operation direction of the operation means and the switch means to be turned on.
With this arrangement, the relative relationship between the operation direction of the operation means and a switch to be actually turned on can be arbitrarily changed as needed. Thus, the operability of the electronic apparatus can be greatly improved.
Furthermore, according to still another embodiment of the present invention, a image pickup apparatus comprises image pickup means for picking up an object image, operation means used for determining an image pickup condition of the image pickup means, and adjustment means for adjusting an attachment position of the operation means to the image pickup means.
With this arrangement, the attachment position of the operation means can be adjusted to the best one for an operator, thus greatly reducing the load on the image pickup operation.
According to still another embodiment of the present invention, an operation device for an electronic apparatus, comprises operation means which is movable in a plurality of operation directions, a plurality of switch means which are selectively operated in correspondence with the operation direction of the operation means, and changing means for electrically changing a relative positional relationship between the operation directions of the operation means and the plurality of switch means.
With this arrangement, the layout of the operation contents can be modified or the operation contents can be rotated in accordance with a user""s favor, thus improving the operability.
According to still another embodiment of the present invention, an image pickup apparatus comprises image pickup means for picking up an image of an object, display means for displaying the image picked up by the image pickup means for a reproduced image, and operation means for moving a display frame, which indicates a setting range of an image pickup condition of the image pickup means on a screen of the display means, to a desired position on the screen, and the operation means is arranged on a plane including the screen of the display means.
With this arrangement, when the image pickup condition is set by the operation means, the operability can be improved. Since the operation means is disposed on a plane including the screen, the image pickup condition can be set with only one finger while confirming the image displayed on the screen. Furthermore, since the operation direction such as the upper, lower, right, or left direction matches the movement of the display frame of the screen, a smooth operation can be realized.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following specification and the accompanying drawings.